Indians Prospect Insider

Thanks to a six game losing streak the Indians went from within striking distance of the AL Central lead and leading the AL wildcard race to a longshot in the division and four games out in the wildcard race. But Tony says it is not time to jump ship. He answers that question plus others about Yan Gomes' future as a backstop in Cleveland, extensions for players, lefty relief options, and much more in his latest IBI Inbox.

The Indians have been a streaky team all season, but they unfortunately chose the wrong time to go on a losing streak as a 1-6 week left them seven games behind the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. In addition to the numerous losses, the week was magnified by the loss of right-hander Corey Kluber to the disabled list. Yep, it was unfortunately one of those weeks for the Indians that we all would like to soon forget. Before moving forward though, let's take one last look at the week that was and join the IBI's Steve Orbanek for his weekly notebook, Notes From the Wigwam.

Having lost six straight games and severely jeopardizing their playoff chances, the Indians desperately needed a win before embarking on their longest stretch of games away from Cleveland left. They turned to their best pitcher to halt the slide, but he struggled and things looked daunting late in the game until the offense exploded and the bullpen did their job to notch a very important 6-5 win in the series and homestand finale. The IBI's Kevin Dean shares his second thoughts....

Bryson Myles continued his hot streak on Sunday as he piled up two hits on his way to extending his hitting streak to 23 games. LeVon Washington has been ice cold since his return to Lake County. The IBI's Arthur Kinney discusses the two performances and more as we go around the farm and recap Sunday's noteworthy minor league action.

A slew of hits in the fourth inning gave the Clippers a lead the Louisville Bats could not overcome. Columbus ultimately stole the win from the Bats and with that 6-1 win tied Louisville for the second seat in the International West standings.

With the Mahoning Valley Scrappers winning the first two games of a three game set with the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Scrappers could at least keep a little hope of a playoff berth heading into the All-Star Game. That hope dropped a bit on Sunday, as Mahoning Valley squandered a late lead and eventually fell to Hudson Valley 6-5.

They say hitting is contagious. Trailing Los Angeles 5-0 in the sixth inning, the Indians rallied for six unanswered runs to stun the Angels and win, 6-5. The comeback victory snaps a six-game losing streak as the Tribe takes the final game of the three-game series. Despite the struggles of Justin Masterson, the Tribe was able to avoid a home stand sweep. Join the IBI's Jim Berdysz as he recap's the Indians' comeback win over the Halos.

After a shaky start to the season the Indians and Vinnie Pestano are relying on a trip to Triple-A Columbus to bring him back to his former glory as a key member in the Bullpen Mafia. A stint on the disabled list in May and a disappointing July made Pestano the odd man out in a recent bullpen shuffle, and the IBI's Adrienne Robbins recently talked to him to get the low down on what he is working on in Columbus.

The question of why Asdrubal Cabrera is still hitting cleanup is a hot one amongst Cleveland fans. Batting in that spot would have been a perfectly good one two years ago when the shortstop hit 25 home runs, or even last year when Cabrera's home runs dipped to 16 but his wRC+ stayed solid at 113. This year, however, Cabrera looks more like a replacement-level player than an All-Star. What happened, you ask? As Jim Piascik explains, Cabrera's plate discipline has just disappeared.

And they're free...free fallin'. Two runs and a season-high four errors would be all the struggling Tribe put across Saturday against Los Angeles, as they fell to their sixth straight loss, 7-2. With the offense in a deep freeze they can ill afford to play sloppy on defense, and that is exactly what happened Saturday night. The IBI's Jim Berdysz shares his second thoughts...

Triple-A Columbus lefty T.J. House led the way in the Indians system on Saturday night with a stellar eight inning outing. He is on quite a role of late, and Tony checks in and talks about his outing as well as the good performances from Jesus Aguilar, Jose Ramirez, Bryson Myles, Clint Frazier and tons more.

C.J. Wilson struggled through five and one-third innings, but Cleveland's sloppy defense and continually-quiet bats doomed the home team, as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim beat the Indians 7-2 Saturday night. The Indians are reeling and they put forth one of their sloppiest games yet with four errors, wild pitches, and an continued lack of ability to hit in the clutch.

Bryson Myles extended his franchise-record hitting streak to 22 with a run-producing hit in the ninth inning, but it wasn’t enough as the Frederick Keys dropped the Carolina Mudcats 12-4 in the final game of the series at Harry Grove Stadium.

The Aeros held a tight lead with only one out left to go, but the Trenton Thunder scored once in the ninth and once more in the bottom of the 13th to defeat Akron 3-2 on Saturday night at Arm & Hammer Stadium in Trenton, New Jersey.

With their offense in overdrive and starting pitching on point the Clippers took the win from the Louisville Bats on Saturday. After three quiet innings Columbus took the lead and kept it for the rest of the night, only giving up a single run to Louisville and winning 8-1.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!